Markets

Cramer on Monday's stock surge: 'Talk about classic bear market behavior'

Key Points
  • CNBC's Jim Cramer says the market is displaying "classic bear market behavior."
  • "We crater all week and then we open up huge on nothing, but because we are so oversold," he writes in a tweet.
  • The Dow bounced about 300 points higher shortly after Monday's open on Wall Street.
Cramer: This looks like a 'bear market rally'
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Cramer: This looks like a 'bear market rally'

CNBC's Jim Cramer said early Monday the market is displaying "classic bear market behavior" with U.S. stock futures pointing to a rise of more than 200 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Average after last week's drubbing.

"Talk about classic bear market behavior," Cramer said in a tweet before the opening bell. "We crater all week and then we open up huge on nothing, but because we are so oversold it is hard to let things go."

Talk about classic bear market behavior. We crater all week and then we open up huge on nothing, but because we are so oversold it is hard to let things go

Explaining his tweet further, Cramer said on CNBC's "Squawk Box," "It's a bear market rally. You go down really hard last week. And then you come in on Monday and it's up a lot. People come in. They buy it and lose money."

He added, "I have tremendous contempt for this market, because every time you try to make money with it, it cuts your heart out."

Shortly after Monday's open on Wall Street, the Dow bounced about 300 points higher, pushing the blue-chip average further away from correction territory. The rally also lifted the out of a correction, which is defined as a downward move of 10 percent or greater from recent highs. A bear market is measured by a decline of 20 percent or more from recent highs.

Cramer has repeatedly blamed the Federal Reserve under Chairman Jerome Powell for spooking the markets, saying central bankers need to recognize that the economy is slowing and they can't move rates to a preconceived notion of so-called neutral.

Cramer warned last week that investors should sell their stocks if they expect the Fed to hike interest rates next month.

Wall Street expects a move in December and so does Cramer. The Fed already hiked rates three times this year.

— CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere contributed to this report.